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Objective of the workshop: The primary objective of this workshop is to prepare for solar and heliospheric science with the SKAO. The first phase of the SKAO, SKAO1, is expected to become available by 2028, and the science commissioning data is expected to become available sometime next year. Though the Indian community has been playing a leadership role in this science area, the size of this community in the country is very small and insufficient for maintaining this leadership role in the longer term. This is an attempt to start to augment this community by attracting young practitioners and building the human resource needed to continue to pursue flagship solar and heliospheric science and also maintain our leadership role in the SKAO era. The specific aspects to be covered in this workshop include:
- Solar and heliospheric science highlights from some of the different precursors and pathfinders of the SKAO - MWA, MeerKAT, LOFAR and uGMRT- as well as the other new and upgraded radio telescopes such as OVRO, LWA, MUSER, upgraded NRH, and GRH, etc.
- What can radio observations do for solar, heliosphere and ionosphere sciences?
- What does the solar community want from radio observations?
- Sharing pertinent developments in solar and heliospheric radio science in the country with the community about rejuvenation of existing facilities like the Ooty Radio Telescope and upcoming facilities like the broadband spectro polarimeter at the Udaipur Solar Observatory for coronal and chromospheric observations.
- Present the status of state-of-the-art tools & techniques for solar radio analysis and the need for, and effort towards providing wider access to high-quality radio images and user-friendly, publicly available pipelines for creating these images.
- An overview of the process of generating radio interferometric images and an opportunity to play with the radio images from SKAO precursors and pathfinders.
Rationale: Solar and heliospheric science is entering an exciting era with the upcoming SKAO and its precursors like MWA, MeerKAT, LOFAR and uGMRT, among others. This workshop aims to address the critical need for building an Indian radio Solar, Heliophysics and Ionosphere community by engaging young scientists and promoting the accessibility of solar radio science. By showcasing recent science highlights, sharing developments in solar and heliospheric research, and discussing future needs and challenges, the workshop will foster collaboration within the community. The workshop will include an overview of the process of generating solar radio interferometric images. To give the attendees a hands-on feel for these images, they will also be provided a set of radio images and dynamic spectra from different telescopes and will examine and explore them in guided exercises. This hand-on session will form the first step of giving the community a taste for the radio data, build their appetite for more and contribute to making solar radio science more mainstream and impactful. From an Indian perspective, the workshop will serve as a crucial step towards positioning the Indian solar community at the forefront of international solar and heliospheric research in the SKAO era. Participation of early career researchers will be encouraged.
Program: The workshop will comprise four sessions. The first session will focus on the science highlights from work done with different precursor instruments, showcasing key achievements and breakthroughs. The second session will feature talks covering a wide range of science cases utilising solar/heliospheric radio data, exploring the diverse applications and discoveries made possible by these observations. The third session will highlight new, upgraded, and upcoming radio facilities, followed by a discussion on what the solar community needs from future radio observations. The last session will be hands-on, where participants will be exposed to the process of making solar radio images and provided sample output images and dynamic spectra from different telescopes to build a first-hand feel.
Expected number of participants: Will be updated soon.
Workshop Organizing Institutes: PRL, TIFR-NCRA, IIT Kanpur, IIA, NIT Rourkela
Speakers: The speakers will be drawn from among the proposers of this workshop, along with others who have been investing efforts for enabling solar and heliospheric science with the SKAO pathfinders and precursors. Presentations from early career researchers will be encouraged.
Proposers: Divya Oberoi (NCRA-TIFR), Anshu Kumari (PRL), Rohit Sharma (IIT Kanpur), Krishnakumar M. A. (RAC, NCRA-TIFR), Susanta Kumar Bisoi (NIT Rourkela), Wageesh Mishra (IIA)